


A Stitch Away

by nicalyse



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Coming Out, Internalized Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 08:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4094743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicalyse/pseuds/nicalyse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis thinks a lot about Niall over the next few days. He's different than anyone Louis' ever met, so confident and obviously comfortable in his own skin, dancing like an idiot and laughing with everyone. He'd talked about sleeping with blokes in front of a perfect stranger, and then he went out of his way to treat that same stranger like a friend.</p>
<p>He's brave, brave like Louis was when he was a kid, like he's pretended to be for years, brave like Louis has always wished he could be. </p>
<p>And maybe Louis has a bit of a crush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Stitch Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lowi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowi/gifts).



> Written for the prompt: "coming out!louis and his best mate zayn introducing him to niall, whose confidence is quite mind-blowing to louis…" It was fun to write, and I hope you enjoy it!

"Let's go out tonight."

"Yeah, okay." Louis doesn't look up from the counter that he's wiping clean, scratching at a bit of melted cheese stuck to the laminate. 

"Harry's having a party," Zayn says. He's perched on the top step of a stepladder he brought up from the back. He isn't supposed to be behind the counter - he doesn't even work at the cafe - but the only other person in the place is a girl with a blonde pixie cut sitting in the corner, nursing a cup of tea and reading a novel.

"Awful Poet Harry?"

"That's the one." Zayn grins. "He and his flatmate are celebrating," he pauses, making a thoughtful face, "something, I don't know. It doesn't matter."

"Party's a party, yeah?" Louis shrugs.

"Yeah." He shifts, pushing up his sleeve and tracing his thumbnail along the edge of a not-quite healed tattoo. "Like his flatmate, too. Good bloke. Pretty cute," he adds casually.

Too casually. Louis drops his cloth and turns all of his attention on Zayn, who is concentrating very hard on picking at a scabby bit on his arm and not looking at Louis. Louis pinches his bicep hard to get him to stop, fixing him with a look. "You aren't trying to set me up?"

"No," Zayn snaps, glaring and rubbing at the sore place on his arm. "I wouldn't inflict you on anyone."

"I don't believe you."

Zayn shrugs, unperturbed, rising to his feet. "I have a lecture. I'll see you at home."

Louis holds his glare until he's sure that Zayn isn't turning back. "Yeah." He leans against the counter and watches Zayn go, the little bell above the door jingling.

"Your boyfriend's stupid fit," the girl in the corner speaks up. Louis snorts and forces a smile, his heart thudding a little quicker.

"Not my boyfriend."

She pulls a sympathetic face. "Shame."

Louis' smile softens a little, becomes something a bit more genuine. "Get you another cuppa, love?"

*

Zayn always means well, but that doesn't mean that Louis' okay with being set up. He's never had a boyfriend, and he's only been with a few blokes, all furtive, secret one-offs; he's only just come out properly after years of repression and pretending an interest in girls. He might never have come out if it hadn't been for Zayn badgering him into moving to London ( _c'mon, mate, I need a flatmate who'll actually pay rent on time_ ). It's easier here, with people who haven't known him his whole life.

Back home, the only people who knew he was gay were his mum and step-dad, and not long before he moved, his oldest sister, Lottie. Doing musicals in school was enough to get him grief from his friends; he sure as fuck wasn't going to give them the opportunity to call him a poof and mean it. Zayn had only found out when he took Louis' laptop to proofread an essay for him and discovered a bit of Louis' porn, accidentally minimized instead of closed. Louis had been terrified in that moment, literally frozen in fear. Zayn had just smirked, opening a new tab and carrying on with what he'd been doing. "Saving it for later, yeah?" he asked, light, eyes soft when he glanced at Louis, who'd answered with a faint, "Yeah." And that was it. Later, Louis had said the words - _I'm gay_ \- and Zayn had nodded and smiled his soft smile and nudged Louis with his elbow.

So now, living in London, sharing a flat with Zayn and working in a cafe while he tries to figure to figure out what the fuck to do with his life, Louis is out. Quietly out. He's not announcing his sexuality to anyone he meets, but he isn't actively hiding it, which is a step in the right direction, he supposes.

Zayn worries. Louis knows he does, even if he hasn't admitted it. He's been in London for months and has only made a couple of friends: Liam at the cafe, and Eleanor, who lives next door and whose bedroom shares a wall with Louis'. He's a little quieter than he used to be, years of trying to make sure that he didn't say anything too gay a hard habit to break. Zayn's been bringing him out, trying to pull him back out of his shell, but it's slow going. Louis doesn't trust easily.

Harry's flat is on the fifth floor in a building that has no lift, and when Louis and Zayn arrive it's full of people and music. It's a student flat: none of the furniture matches and there's a mix of weird things on the walls, movie posters and printed Instagram photo collages, a Derby football banner and a little rainbow flag.

Louis shoots Zayn a sharp look at that. "You said you weren't trying to set me up with anyone," he hisses, clutching his bicep, making sure to dig in with the tips of his fingers. Zayn shrugs him off.

"I'm not. I don't really know what Harry's into."

Even after knowing him for half his life, Louis can't always tell when Zayn is lying. He's just opened his mouth to call him a liar anyway when a tall, curly boy appears just in front of them. He's got a clear plastic cup in his hand, and whatever he's drinking is an alarming shade of electric green. He wraps his arms around Zayn, tugging him into a hug that Louis can only blink at.

"I'm glad you came," he says, a bit slow and a bit slurred.

Zayn fidgets a bit when the boy lets him out of the hug. "Harry, this is my mate, Louis," he introduces.

Louis is somehow unsurprised when Harry hugs him, a real hug where he holds Louis close and squeezes tight. "Good to meet you," he says only after he's pulled away.

"Yeah, you, too."

"Let's get you drinks then," Harry says. He pauses, tipping back the rest of his green concoction. "Me, too," he adds with a grin.

The kitchen is just as crowded as the living room, a group in the corner playing a raucous game of flip cup at the table and a handful of people crowded around what seems to be the makeshift bar at the worktop beside the sink.

"Nialler, we need drinks," Harry announces, going to stand hip-to-hip with a blond boy in a backwards snapback.

"What did you last booze slave die of?" the boy asks in an unmistakeable Irish accent, earning a derisive snort of laughter from the pretty black girl he was talking to before Harry interrupted.

Harry ignores him, setting his cup on the counter. "Another green thing, please. And whatever Zayn and Louis want."

He turns at that, eyes lighting up. "Zayn!" he cries, pulling Zayn into a laughing hug that Zayn seems resigned to accept. He release Zayn and turns to Louis. "Who're you?" he asks, not unkindly.

"Louis."

"Niall," he introduces himself, clasping Louis' hand and pulling him into what amounts to a bro hug, their shoulders bumping while Niall thumps him on the back with his other hand. There's a strange sort of pang in Louis' gut, like maybe he expected a proper hug like Zayn's. He buries it deep.

"Cool place," he says neutrally.

"Yeah, thanks," Niall says, turning back to the liquor bottles on the counter and gesturing expansively. "What'll ya have?"

Zayn interrupts himself mid-sentence to Harry to say, "Rum and coke." Louis shrugs his agreement.

"I only know about half the people here," Harry is saying, brow furrowed as he looks through the doorway to the lounge. He shrugs a moment later, slinging an arm around Niall's shoulder so that Coke sloshes over the rim of the cup he's pouring. "'S'all right though. New people are good. And our Niall is on the pull."

"Always am," Niall says amiably, pressing another green drink into Harry's hand.

"Looking for a bird or a bloke tonight?" Harry asks with a grin that Niall returns, passing a drink to Zayn, then Louis, meeting his eyes when he thanks him.

"Feeling a bit gay today, if I'm honest," he says, taking a deep drink from his own cup. "Surely there's a fit boy here somewhere."

And that's - God, Louis can't imagine just _saying_ something like that, and in front of people that he doesn't even know. Niall seems unconcerned, telling Harry that of course he hid the best booze in his closet, and Louis realizes that he's frozen with his own drink halfway to his mouth; he moves so quickly to take a sip that he slops up onto his upper lip, nearly tipping the cup so far that rum and Coke dribbles out either side of his mouth.

"All right?" Zayn asks under his breath. Louis nods, draining his drink so he can have another.

It seems like a night to get pissed. As it turns out, Harry is happy to help, dragging Louis with him to join the flip cup game in the corner. Louis plays until he's suitably pissed, excusing himself to the loo as an out before he can take it too far. He washes his hands and resists the urge to open the medicine chest for a little snoop, looking at himself in the mirror instead, considering what it might be like to talk about pulling blokes like it's nothing. He can't imagine himself being that brave.

Niall is leaned against the wall opposite the bathroom door when Louis emerges, fiddling with his phone. His vest has huge armholes that show his skinny ribs, but he's still broad and solid. He looks up when the door opens, grinning bright and locking his phone. "Havin' fun?"

"In the loo?"

Niall outright cackles, and Louis' face burns with humiliation. "Crackin' party in the loo then?" Niall asks, leaning past him to peer into the bath, like there might actually be something going on inside.

"No, I mean--"

"I'm joking, mate." Niall's voice is kind, and softer than Louis' heard it all night. "Wound a little tight, aren't ya?"

"I." Louis swallows whatever he was going to say, because yes, but he doesn't really want to admit it. "I haven't been in London that long," he finally says. "It's different than back home."

"The adjustment period." Niall nods sagely. "I came from Mullingar for uni last year, and I was a mess for an age."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But that means I'm perfect for you," Niall says. Louis' heartbeat might actually stutter once or twice. "I'll adopt you as my own."

"Adopt me?"

Niall shrugs, a small, quick movement. "Help you figure out London life." He grins. "I find all the best pubs."

"Can't pass up the inside track on the best pubs, can I?" Louis says, smiling at Niall mostly because Niall is smiling at him.

Niall shoves his phone into Louis' hands. "Here, put your number in. I'm dying for a piss." He leaves Louis laughing in the hallway when he pushes into the loo, cackling from behind the closed door.

*

Louis thinks a lot about Niall over the next few days. He's different than anyone Louis' ever met, so confident and obviously comfortable in his own skin, dancing like an idiot and laughing with everyone. He'd talked about sleeping with blokes in front of a perfect stranger, and then he went out of his way to treat that same stranger like a friend.

He's brave, brave like Louis was when he was a kid, like he's pretended to be for years, brave like Louis has always _wished_ he could be. Out and proud sounds brilliant, and then you start to worry about the consequences: losing people you love and being treated differently and _knowing_ that there are people who hate you for who you love, who would do awful things to you because of it.

But Niall...surely Niall has worried about it, Louis can't imagine that anyone wouldn't, but you can't tell it to look at him or talk to him. He's bright and warm and brave, and he's quite fit on top of it all.

And maybe Louis has a bit of a crush.

He tries not to think about it too much.

*

Louis quickly learns that Niall really does find the best pubs. This one is in a basement and should probably be a dingy, dodgy hole, but it's cleaner than most of the pubs Louis' been in and the pints are dead cheap. Harry and Zayn are playing darts - Harry is hilariously bad, but so enthusiastic it's impossible to tell him to give it up - and Niall has gone up to the bar to get them a new pitcher. When Louis looks around to see what's taking so long, he sees that Niall's flirting with the girl behind the bar. She's pretty, curvy with a mane of long, thick hair, laughing loudly at something along with Niall.

Louis fidgets, turning back to Harry and Zayn's game. "Maybe you should stop aiming," he suggests to Harry. He shrugs when Harry scowls. "You might have better luck if you stop trying so hard."

When Niall comes back, Zayn is laughing so hard he's crying, and Harry is dragging a stool up to the wall so he can retrieve his dart from where it's stuck in the wall two feet above the board. "I told you he was awful," he says, refilling Louis' glass.

"The bartender's pretty," Louis says, biting down hard on his tongue as soon as the words are out.

"Jesy? Yeah. Shame she's got a boyfriend." Louis hums. "What about you?" Niall asks suddenly. "You got a lady or a fella?"

"I. No."

"You wanna pull?" Niall nudges him with his elbow. "Jesy's friend Perrie is here. She's fit."

Louis takes a breath. He can't hide forever, and Niall's presented him with the perfect opportunity. He plucks up his courage and says, "She's not really my type."

Niall laughs. "You haven't even seen her." Louis shrugs and watches as realization dawns on Niall's face. "Oh."

"Yeah." He can be brave. He can. Niall isn't going to call him a poof or punch him in the face.

"I don't want to like, assume. I'm bi, and it sucks when people think they know--"

"I'm gay," Louis interrupts. The words are startlingly easy to say.

Niall smiles, a brilliant, blinding thing that Louis can't help but return. "I can help you pull a bloke too, if you want."

"Can we maybe just get smashed?" Louis asks.

"Fuck yes we can." He loops his arm over Louis' shoulder and drags him off the stool toward the bar. "Jesy! Shots!"

She lifts an eyebrow. "What're you having?"

Niall looks at Louis, who shrugs. "Lady's choice, I suppose."

And so they get smashed, Jesy providing a steady stream of pints and shots. Harry manages to throw a bullseye when he's literally stumbling drunk, Niall introduces Zayn to Perrie (they go back to hers and Louis doesn't see Zayn for two days), and Louis starts to fall a little bit in love with Niall.

*

Liam is Louis' favorite person to work with at the cafe, a complete turnaround from when he first started and thought Liam was a self-important prig. He likes rules and does what he's supposed to do - he's studying sound engineering and has been with the same girl for over a year and is always at least five minutes early for his shifts - while Louis has always been a bit lax, generally preferring to ask forgiveness when he does something wrong than to ask for permission to do something and getting shot down. He used to go home and whine at Zayn about how boring Liam was, up until the day that Liam stood up for him.

A bloke spilled hot tea on the counter and called Louis stupid for not warning him that the mug was hot, the wanker. It would've been fine, nothing Louis couldn't handle, but he kept carrying on, and after the third time he called Louis stupid - _stupid, worthless little brat_ \- Liam had intervened, telling him firmly that he could take his business elsewhere. 

They found a middle ground after that. Louis does most of what he's supposed to do without taking the piss out of Liam _too_ much, and Liam forgives Louis when he forgets to do something and isn't quite so rigid about the rules. They have fun, and Liam is the only person Louis actually likes working the early shift with.

Louis waves a cheerful goodbye to the pretentious dude who spent the last hour on his laptop in the corner (presumably actually working on something since the cafe doesn't have wi-fi), then slips into the back where Liam's been working on inventory. He's crouched on the floor, his head shoved back into a shelf, muttering to himself. "He's finally gone!" Louis announces.

There's a thump and a muffled curse, and then Liam emerges from inside the shelf with disgruntled eyebrows, rubbing the back of his head. "You made me lose count."

"What were you counting?"

"If we're both back here, who's helping the customers?" Liam asks, eyebrows knitting together.

"There are bells, Leemo. We'll hear them come in," Louis says. "What were you counting?"

"Tins of Earl Grey."

"There's plenty of Earl Grey," Louis dismissed. Liam drops down onto his bum on the floor, shaking his head. 

"I can't write 'plenty' on the inventory sheet, Louis."

Louis shrugs, dropping to sit beside him on the floor. "Count the Earl Grey then. I'll keep you company."

Liam rolls his eyes, but crawls back into the shelf to count the tea.

He's hanging on Liam later, celebrating their completed inventory and the fast-approaching end of their shift, when the bells above the door jingle.

"Tommo!" Niall cries. The girl sitting at the table next to the door blinks up at him, startled. "Sorry."

Louis stifles a laugh. "All right, Niall?"

"All good, yeah. You ready for footy?"

"Definitely." It's the thing he misses most about being at home after his family; not having made a lot of friends here means that he also hasn't made any footy buddies to go with for a kickabout. The only footy Zayn wants to play is FIFA, but Niall had lit up when Louis mentioned football. "This is Liam. Liam, Niall."

"Nice to meet you, mate."

"We can leave as soon as Josh and Sandy get here," Louis says. 

"D'you want anything while you wait?" Liam offers, unfailingly polite.

"I'd take one of those chocolate biscuits, if you don't mind," he answers. "Are you coming to play with us?"

Liam darts a glance to Louis. "I, uh. Well, Sophia and I--"

"You should come, Li," Louis says over Liam's halting story about studying with Sophia. They haven't really hung out outside of work, which suddenly seems both ridiculous and stupid.

"All right then." In another world, Louis might have fallen for Liam and that smile.

Zayn and Harry are already at the park when Louis and Liam finally get out of work, the two of them sprawled out long-limbed and beautiful in the grass. "Oi!" Niall calls, tossing the football so it lands on the ground just beside Harry's head. Zayn flinches out of his doze, pushing up onto his elbow with a glare. "Get up, lazy arses."

Harry opens one eye lazily. "Why can't you just let things lie, Nialler?"

"Callin' yourself a thing, are ye?" Harry gives a shrug. "Get up then, lazy thing. Footy!"

Ten minutes into their kickabout, Louis starts to think that maybe Harry should've been left to his nap. He's even more hopeless at football than he was at darts, but he's good-natured about it, even when they're all laughing at him. Zayn isn't bad, but he is lazy about it, half-heartedly booting the ball whenever it comes his way. Liam and Niall, however, make up for Harry and Zayn's lack of skill and enthusiasm; if Louis had known Liam could play like this, they might've had a kickabout ages ago.

Later, after Harry has sufficiently embarrassed himself and the sun is beginning to dip low behind the trees, the five of them make their way to a pub - another of Niall's discoveries - for chips and pints, crowded around a little table on the patio.

"Just one," Liam is telling Niall when the waiter brings their pitchers. "I told Sophia I'd be home when she got out of her lecture."

"Sure, Liam," Niall says, sincere. "Just one and we'll send you on your way."

An hour later, Liam is draining his third pint, Zayn is grinning at his phone while he texts Perrie, and Harry has fucked off to the bar where he appears to be flirting with their waiter. "Going to the loo," Liam announces, rising a little unsteadily and leaving Niall and Louis alone at their table.

"I like him," Niall declares, leaning over to pour the last of a pitcher into his glass.

"Yeah. Liam's a good one, I think."

Niall leans back in his chair, considering Louis thoughtfully. "You told him that you're gay?"

"No." Louis braces himself for the advice: that it'll feel better when he's told people, that Liam doesn't seem the sort to treat him any differently, that anyone who would look down on him for who he loves isn't someone he needs in his life.

But none of it comes. Niall just nods, lifting his snapback to ruffle his hair before plunking it back on.

*

Louis is stupid for nursing this stupid crush on Niall.

Niall might've "adopted" him, but that doesn't mean that he wants to be involved with a closet case with no experience. Why would he want to be with Louis when he could have anyone else - male or female?

It's this line of thinking that finds Louis at a tiny little club in SoHo, pretending more confidence than he feels as he orders a rum and coke. Brave. He can be brave. There's no need to tell anyone here that he's gay, won't have to explain that all he wants is a night. It'll be easy so long as he can be brave.

He's two drinks in when he notices that he's being watched. Louis looks him up and down - tall, sandy hair, the sort of face that looks like it belongs to a kind person - then holds his gaze for a three count before looking away. His heart thumps, and he quashes the urge to pull his phone out of his back pocket for something to do.

Two lingering glances later, the tall guy sidles up to him, leaning on his elbows on the bar. "Hi. I'm Greg."

"Louis." 

"You're cute, Louis," Greg says. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Louis smiles. "Yeah, all right."

He kisses Greg in a dark corner of the club, leaning back against the rough brick wall and tugging him down by the collar of his shirt. He doesn't forget that they're in public, in a room with dozens of people, any of whom could see them - but he manages to not _care_.

"Come home with me," Greg breathes into his mouth, palming his arse and hitching his hips forward so they're pressed together. Greg is just as hard in his jeans as Louis is in his.

"No."

Greg pulls back, one hand braced on the wall, caging Louis in. He doesn't hate it. "Come with me to the loo then."

He doesn't say yes because he's being brave. He says yes because he wants to go.

It's late when he creeps into the flat, quiet so he doesn't wake Zayn. He toes off his shoes just inside the door, but when he walks into the living room, the telly is still on. Zayn's head pokes up over the back of the sofa. "All right, Lou?"

"Yeah." When he steps closer, he can see that Perrie's stretched out on the sofa with Zayn, her head pillowed in his lap. "You two didn't wait up, did you?"

"Nah. Fell asleep watching a movie," Zayn says. It's a lie, but Louis doesn't call him on it. "Did you have fun?"

In the grungy club bathroom, Greg got down on his knees to give Louis a blow job; Louis pulled him off. They kissed once, after, and then went their separate ways. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

Zayn smiles. "Good."

Feeling more brave than usual, Louis says, "Got off with a bloke in a dirty loo. It was well good, yeah."

Zayn softens, still smiling. "Good."

*

Niall adopted Zayn's habit of sitting behind the counter at the cafe almost immediately. Unlike Zayn, Niall talks to the customers almost like another employee, helpfully pulling items from the bakery case or passing over napkins or utensils. Really, all it does is make Louis lazier, but Niall doesn't seem to notice.

"Are you going to see him again?"

Louis snorts, leaning against the back counter. "I didn't even get his number."

"Did he get yours?"

"Niall. It was a one-off."

"Well, is that what you want?" Niall asks, serious and a little concerned.

_I want you_ , Louis doesn't say, and fuck but he doesn't know where exactly that came from. Niall's fit, yeah, and Louis likes him a lot, but he didn't know he was feeling...that, exactly. "It was that night," he says.

Niall smiles his brilliant smile. "If you're happy, I'm happy for you." 

They're interrupted by a string of customers. Niall chats with them from his seat atop the stepladder while Louis makes drinks and serves pastries and thinks about how he's half in love with Niall, who's just supposed to be his mate.

Louis hasn't ever known anyone like Niall, who can talk to anyone, make friends with anyone, and _mean_ it. He's open and confident, not hiding who he is. Louis is in awe of him, really.

"Bet you'd be a good boyfriend," Niall says later, apropos of nothing. They're leaving the cafe, headed back to Niall's to coerce Harry into cooking dinner for them.

"I was a shit boyfriend, actually."

"But with girls, right?" Louis nods. "Think it'd be different if you were in it for the right reasons."

Louis flushes hot, but Niall has a point. "Who'd want to be my boyfriend though? I'm a mess. Barely out of the closet, never been with a bloke proper like."

"Louis," Niall says, his brow furrowed seriously, "a guy is going to want to be with you for _you_ , and fuck all the other stuff. If he can't handle it, he's not the right one for you."

"Asking a lot though, aren't I?"

Niall shrugs. "I don't think so."

_Maybe you should be my boyfriend then_ , Louis doesn't say.

*

"Hey, Li?"

"Hmm?" Liam's got his head inside the bakery case, tongs in his hand as he rearranges the biscuits and scones to look perfect. It's a slow day; they haven't had a customer in nearly an hour.

"I'm gay."

Liam leans back then, looking up at Louis with his brow furrowed in confusion. "All right."

"All right," Louis repeats, wringing his hands. "I...I wanted to tell you."

Liam nods, face relaxed. "All right."

When he goes home at the end of his shift, Louis feels better than he has in a long time.

Two days later, he goes to Eleanor's to watch _The X-Factor_ and eat takeaway, and he tells her, too, just because it felt so good the last time. She smiles, lays a smacking kiss on his mouth, and tells him to pass the noodles.

It feels good, like he's actually being brave for once instead of just pretending.

*

The night after Zayn turns in his most important essay of the term, he and Louis order Chinese and get smashed on cheap vodka mixed with cheap orange juice. By half-ten they're proper drunk, sprawled out on the sofa, the second Captain America film playing on the telly. Maybe it's the vodka, or maybe it's watching Steve work so hard to try to save his best friend seeping into his brain cells, but out of nowhere Louis says, "I think I have a thing for Niall."

Zayn rolls his head to the side to look at him. "Yeah?" Louis nods. "What kind of thing?"

Louis scoffs. "What do you mean? A thing. A crush or whatever."

"Yeah," Zayn says, rolling his eyes, "but like, a thing where you want to like, suck his dick or have him suck yours? A thing where you want to kiss him a lot? A think where you want to be his boyfriend and fall in love?"

He's drunk. He can take it back if he needs to. So, "The last one, I guess," he admits. "All of them, really. But I think I'm like, half in love with him already."

"Are you going to tell him?"

Louis shrugs, then laughs, lazy and drunk. "I got pretty good at lying and pretending. I could just keep doing that."

"Louis."

"I don't know." He scrubs his hands over his face. "I don't want to scare him off."

Zayn considers Louis for a long moment, actually lifting his head up off the sofa cushion. "I don't think Niall's the sort to scare easily," he finally says.

Louis doesn't reply, focusing back on the movie and pretending that he isn't considering what it might be like to be brave enough tell Niall how he feels.

*

"You don't have to stay," Louis insists for the third time when Niall starts putting chairs up on the tables that Louis has already wiped down.

"I'm not doing anything else. I don't mind helping."

"Niall, you don't work here."

"Shut up, Lou."

Niall was hanging out at the cafe when Liam finally succumbed to his stress headache and let Louis badger him into going home early. It's been slow all evening, and Louis is certainly capable of closing on his own, but Niall has insisted on helping.

"Fine." He retrieves a roll of cling film from under the counter. "Wrap up the things in the case? I'm going to do the dishes."

It's a quick, easy job; Niall will be finished before Louis' done with the last load of dishes. Except when Louis emerges from the back having finished, he finds Niall kneeling in front of the bakery case tearing at the roll of cling film and swearing a blue streak under his breath. Most of the pastries are still uncovered.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Louis asks, kneeling beside him.

"Bloody fucking cling film," Niall replies, each word louder than the last. Louis bursts into laughter, not even trying to stifle it when Niall grows visibly more disgruntled. "Why the fuck is it so hard to make it do what you want?"

Louis shrugs, biting down on his tongue to curb his laughter, taking the roll of cling film from Niall and tearing off the wadded up mess at the end. He works quickly, tearing off sheets and wrapping up the trays.

"What the fuck?" Niall demands when Louis finishes after only a few minutes. "Next time, I'll do the dishes."

"You don't work here, Niall," Louis says. Niall shrugs. "Thanks for helping though."

"Course."

They're side by side, kneeling in front of the bakery case. Niall is smiling, and his hair is sticking out from under the edges of his snapback, curling at the ends, and Louis doesn't even stop to think before he leans in and kisses him.

It's soft and warm and _perfect_ , and a moment later Louis' brain catches up to exactly what he's done and he pulls away. "Sorry," he whispers.

"What? Hush that." Niall cups Louis cheek in his hand, leaning in to kiss him again, a little deeper and more insistent. "'ve wanted to do that for ages," he mumbles against Louis' mouth. Louis pulls back with a start.

"What?"

Niall blinks, his eyes bright. "I've wanted to kiss you for ages, Lou."

"Jesus," Louis breathes, hanging his head. "For fuck's sake, why didn't you?"

"Didn't want to scare you off."

Louis can't help it; he has to kiss him again. "I'm not scared. I think I've been half in love with you since I met you." He curves his hand around the side of Niall's neck, fingertips brushing through the soft ends of his hair. He laughs softly, at himself, for doing something that would've been unthinkable not so long ago. "Think you made me brave."

"Nah." Niall leans in, kissing him slow and soft. "S'all you, Lou."


End file.
